The Last of Our Memories
by MoonlitxAngel
Summary: He never wanted her to find out this way. He'd never thought in his wildest dreams that she would ever find out the way she had. Now, with her memory gone, Ellie has to find herself again and fight to keep her sanity as her immunity starts to work against her... Rated T to be safe.
1. Prologue

_**Prologue**_

Ellie kicked another rock into the water as she watched it rush to the small waterfall the river created. The current looked pretty strong, but it had recently rained in the days before now. She hadn't felt so pissed off or betrayed in her entire life.

She'd known from the beginning that Joel had lied to her. She'd only said 'okay' like she had in the naïve hope that he might cave and tell her the truth. No such luck. She had to hear it from whispered words through a shut door.

Did he still think of her as a child, not old enough to understand or make her own decisions? She was fourteen, damn near fifteen, and she could make decisions for herself. Both Joel and Marlene seemed to have forgotten that back there. She wasn't some fucking little kid.

* * *

_**Ellie picked her way through the few people on the streets as she headed towards Tommy's house. Joel had gone to visit his brother and talk to Maria, and he'd told her to come around noon then they'd all have lunch together.**_

_**Tommy and Maria treated her like family, so she just walked into the house. "Joel?!" She called, looking around the foyer and into the living room and not seeing anybody. The only things in either room were the occasional decorative item, lamps, or a sofa. She shut the door behind her and started wondering around the house.**_

"_**Joel, you do realize that you're going to have to tell her the truth at some point, right?" she heard Maria ask gently.**_

"_**I know, but I don't wanna do it in a way that Ellie won't understand why I did what I did," Joel replied in a near inaudible to her whisper.**_

"_**You killed Marlene. She was a mother-figure to Ellie almost after her own mother died. It's going to hurt her a lot either way. You also killed the Fireflies in the hospital. You can't expect her to immediately understand at all. You're going to have to tell her, then she'll need time to process it all. I'm sure Tommy would be perfectly happy to have Ellie here while she cools off. It's going to take time, but you need to tell her."**_

_**Ellie pushed the door open and glared at Joel. "Don't bother. I heard everything."**_

"_**Ellie!" Joel jumped out of his seat and his eyes flicked quickly to the clock.**_

"_**I can't believe you!" She shouted before turning on her heels and running off.**_

* * *

Ellie picked up a jagged rock and threw it as hard as she could into the water. The water splashed up, spraying a little bit on the rocks at the side of the river. She felt betrayed by Joel and Marlene. Neither had treated her like it was her life. She wasn't given the ability to make the choice for herself. Each had decided what they wanted without her and had acted upon it without further consent from her. It was _her_ life! _She_ got to make the decisions for it! Not them!

She knew immediately when she heard the rocks crunching beneath someone's feet that it was Joel, come to take her home.

"Ellie, I-" he started, but she cut him off, the anger rising inside her.

"Did you kill Marlene?" Ellie asked, the venom practically dripping from her voice.

"Yes, I killed her. I killed nearly ever Firefly in that damn hospital."

Ellie turned toward him and glared. "So then why did you lie to me, Joel?! Why didn't you tell me the fucking truth instead of _lying_ to me?!"

"I wanted to protect you, Ellie," he said calmly, stepping closer to her.

"From what?! If you'd told them to wake me up, I would've told them to do whatever they needed to do to get the vaccine! It was finally my turn to die, Joel! I should've died back with Riley! Tess shouldn't have had to die and neither Sam nor Henry should've died either! They all died because of me! It was my turn to die for other people! To die so you, Tommy, Maria, and others won't have to suffer anymore!" Ellie shouted, her elevated voice scaring the few animals around them which in turn threw the trees and bushes around them shaking.

She threw a rock as hard as she could into the water and watched it sink as the water splashed with the force of her throw, showing her anger in a physical manifestation. "I'm leaving, Joel. I can't trust you anymore, and there's nothing for me here. The day you lied to me was the day you destroyed anything we had." She spun away from Joel, and some loose rocks slipped from beneath her feet as she did, causing the auburn haired teen to fall into the water.

"Ellie!" Joel shouted after her, searching around for a sturdy tree branch he could use. He quickly grabbed a branch that was a good size and length and put it where Ellie could reach it.

She frantically grabbed for it, knowing full well that it was probably the only chance she had at living at this point. She couldn't swim and was already having issues keeping her head above the water. If she fell over the waterfall, she wouldn't be taking another breath. She missed the branch at the last second and kept careening toward the top of the waterfall, her body unable to fight against the current the water presented. Each time her head came up for those few precious seconds, she took in a gulp of air and saw Joel chasing after her. They both knew that if he didn't reach her soon, he'd lose her to the rapids.

He quickly but steadily climbed down the rock face that lead to the lower embankment and searched the area for Ellie in the water, but his search was fruitless. He started jogging down the lower side of the river, scanning the water for the teen. He jumped in as soon as he spotted her splayed against a large rock that sat about three quarters of the way away from him, her eyes closed and face towards him. He waded over, fighting the water for each foot he gained. It was still fairly close to the small waterfall, so one misstep could lead him farther from Ellie and stuck in the rapid's grasp himself. Once he finally reached her, he saw the cuts and bruises the rocks at the bottom of the river had given her. Gingerly, he pulled her from the rock and walked back over to the side of the river.

Joel came to the edge where the waterfall as Ellie zoomed on by and downward. He quickly and carefully picked his way down to the lower embankment and search the area for the auburn haired teen, analyzing each area he could only for a few seconds before scanning a new area of the small river. He started jogging, following the rivers path. Still no sign of Ellie. He silently cursed to himself as he scanned the new area of the river, never ceasing to move. He jumped into the water, not caring when it hit him, to get to the rock that Ellie was now splayed against back first. She was covered in little nicks and bruises from where the smaller pebbles in the riverbed had hit her. He carefully pulled her from the rock and, carrying the teen bridle style, went back to the other side of the river.

After Joel caught his breath, he looked over and realized that Ellie wasn't breathing. He quickly got next to her and started chest compressions, pushing over and over again on her chest with as much force as he hoped the teen could handle. He knew it would take too long to get back to Jackson without her having some serious brain damage, so this was his only hope. "C'mon, Ellie," he grunted as he pushed on her chest, hoping that she would cough up the water she must've inhaled.

He breathed a sigh of relief when she coughed, spewing water from her mouth. He turned her on her side so that it wouldn't suffocate her and waited till she stopped coughing to pick her up. It was going to be a _long _walk back to the Jackson….

* * *

_** A/N: And there you have the first chapter. I'm hoping to update at least once a week, if not more, if inspiration really hits me. I'd like to give a special thanks to BlueSky509 for beta-reading this story. More to come soon!**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	2. What?

_**What?**_

Joel sat in the chair next to the bed Ellie now lay in. His eyes took in the peaceful look on the teen's face, and he frowned. Once she woke up, she would probably be even more pissed off than she was before she'd fallen.

"Joel, the doctor said she would be alright. She'll wake up, and we'll figure things out from there. She can stay here or at my and Tommy's place while things cool down between you two," Maria said, looking down at him. It was obvious to anyone that had seen him before that his face was sullen and downcast, dark rings taking residence under his eyes from lack of sleep.

The large room went silent for a long time after that. They weren't the only ones there as the room was filled with four different beds, three being occupied. The sheets weren't the crisp white that most hospital sheets would be, but they were as clean and fresh as they could be. They made do with what they had.

Joel watched the doctor patter about around the room as different people called him around. There were a few people the doctor had taken on as apprentices, so they were around as well. In all, including himself, there were nine people in the room.

"Joel, go home and get some rest. I'll be sure someone knows to get you if her condition changes at all. I doubt she'll want to see you looking as haggard as you do, even if she's mad," Maria told him, trying her best to get him to move.

He sighed and stood up, his back popping a little as he did so. He'd been sitting there for hours. "Sittin' here isn't doing my back any good either."

"Right," Maria said. "Go get some rest, then you can come back. You need to keep your strength up, Joel. Even mad, I know deep down she still cares about you."

"Yeah. Just keep me updated about her condition, Maria. I'm countin' on you."

It was then that he walked off. Not to go back to his and Ellie's empty house, but to join Tommy in his. It'd bother him too much not to hear the clicking of the buttons on that stupid handheld game Ellie had gotten from one of the other adults around. He'd never really admit it out loud, but he'd gotten far too used to Ellie's nearly constant presence that not having her around unsettled him a little.

As he walked to Tommy's, he did something he rarely did. He started to ponder things. Had what he'd done by saving Ellie's life been wrong? Those tapes he'd heard had even said that similar experiments had failed, so she could've been giving her life up for nothing. Granted, the fireflies had signified hope for some, and he'd ruined that as well in his bid to protect Ellie. On the other hand, Ellie could always give herself up to science later in life should the world still be Hell.

Joel had been so deep in thought he'd been standing on Tommy's doorstep and hadn't realized it. He raised his fist to knock as the door swung open.

"I saw you standing there and thought I'd let you in," Tommy said, gesturing for his older brother to come in.

Joel did so, and Tommy shut the door behind him. "Maria came and got onto me about gettin' some sleep, so I thought I'd stop by here."

"Well we've got a guest room. It's up the stairs and to the left. Get some rest, then come find me. I've got something you can help me out with to keep your mind off that little girl."

Joel nodded and trudged up the stairs, the tiredness finally settling into his bones. He knew as soon as he laid his head down he'd fall into a deep slumber, something he couldn't do before out in the wild or in the Boston Quarantine Zone. Out there, everything and everyone was trying to get you.

* * *

Ellie groaned and rolled over onto her side. She was too tired to be confused. Usually she slept on her side, because she couldn't sleep on her back. Too uncomfortable. She wasn't ready to wake up, but she knew she'd have to soon.

"She looks like she's stirring," she heard a washed out, female voice say from close by. "Yes, she's been out for quite some time now. Her body just needed to rest and recuperate after such a traumatic experience," another voice, this time male, said. That voice was a bit farther than the first.

Traumatic experience? What were they talking about? She'd gone to bed in the evening after school like she did every day of the week. There was nothing really traumatic about that. The only traumatic thing would be something happening to-

"Riley!" she shouted, bolting upright in bed. Looking around, she quickly realized she wasn't in her room. That frightened her a little. Why was she in a large room surrounded by people she didn't know staring at her?

"Ellie, how're you feeling?" A woman with blonde hair that she didn't recognize asked her gently.

"Fine...?" she said tentatively, making it sound more like a question. Her eyes drank in her surroundings. The more she looked, the more freaked out she got. This obviously wasn't the Boston QZ, so where was she? Looking around, she saw about seven other people in the room and the semi-yellow of age-stained sheets. There were a few heart monitors near the people that looked in a worse shape than her.

The woman gently grabbed one of the men's arm that was wandering around the room and told him to go get someone named "Joel". Whoever that was. She wasn't going to let this woman know that she was frightened. For all she knew, the blonde was someone with the military. Ellie knew that her being with Marlene would probably lead to something dangerous potentially, but she'd never really thought that it would actually happen. She never thought that she'd be captured and potentially held until Marlene gave herself up. Which probably wouldn't happen. Without Marlene, there were no Fireflies. Without Fireflies, they couldn't stop martial law. Or so she'd been told.

Ellie took to looking around the large room as the blonde woman talked to the doctor in hushed tones. She could tell that this was probably a temporary set-up since there weren't many things that a doctor would normally use. That, and all the equipment looked as if it was all easily movable.

It wasn't long before the woman came back over and sat on the edge of the bed Ellie was sitting in. "I'm guessing you're wondering how you got here. Do you remember running off after hearing what Joel was telling me?"

"Where's Riley? Or Marlene?" Ellie asked, trying to sound tough. In honesty, she was a bit afraid. She was surrounded by people she didn't know, and they were acting like she should know them. Usually that wasn't a good sign.

"You don't remember, do you, Ellie?" the woman asked in a gentle voice.

Ellie glared at the woman. Why did adults have to treat her like such a little kid, anyway? She quickly assessed her chances of escape and decided to try.

She pulled the covers back and jumped out of the bed, all in one motion. Dashing off, it wasn't long before she ran into something hard. One of the assistance had blocked her path. He grabbed for her, but she kicked and fought him till finally she bit his arm and started to take off again once he released her.

"Ellie, wait!" the blonde woman yelled after her. She wasn't sure what made her do it, but she stopped in her tracks and turned around to look at her. The last thing Ellie saw before the blackness of passing out was the doctor rushing for her.

* * *

Joel shined his flashlight into the ink-like darkness that coated the basement of the hospital. This had been Tommy's way to keep his mind off Ellie. Somehow a group of Infected had gotten down here. Joel and Tommy had split up to search for their way in. That's why the "hospital" was a series of large rooms for now.

"Find anything?!" Tommy called from the room adjacent to the one Joel was in. The Infected were already exterminated, thanks to the brothers, so they were safe.

"Nope. Nothin' in here except old medical files from years ago," Joel said, walking toward his younger brother.

Tommy sighed and cursed under his breath. "Well, I guess we can always-"

"Shh shh shh," Joel sounded, quickly silencing his younger brother.

Tommy threw him a questioning look, and he knew the answer before Joel had even opened his mouth. A faint clicking noise could be heard coming from one of the rooms ahead of them. Both men pulled out a gun and started to creep forward, Tommy favoring the left side of the room while Joel stayed to the right.

As they got closer, they saw that it was a single Clicker standing in the room ahead of them. It looked around wildly as if it had heard someone or been attacked. The room itself was a dead end, so they at least knew where the Infected were come in at. Joel signaled to Tommy that he was going to get up behind it and try to choke it. He waited for his little brother's okay before slowly and quietly venturing forward.

He'd stopped thinking about death in a negative way a long time ago, so it didn't bother him to kill the Infected swiftly. In the end, it was him or them. And he'd make sure that it was him and his that were left alive.

"Alright, so we took care of that problem," Tommy said, putting his gun in the holster at his waist. Joel flipped on his flashlight as Tommy started looking around for how the Clicker had entered the room in the first place.

Joel searched through the room as well and found an opening in the wall large enough that two people could fit through if they stood shoulder to shoulder. "How'd you guys miss somethin' this big?"

"Same way we almost did. That stuff blocked us from seeing it as well. I'll have to have someone block it off. I guess this tunnel was made to get patients out when the outbreak started," Tommy said, peering into the makeshift tube.

"Maybe. Probably leads outside the city. Should we go check it out?"

"Nah. I'll let the others handle it when they fix it. Shouldn't be too hard for them to send a few people out. We need to get back, because I wanna go check on Ellie. It's been a few hours that we've been searching down here, Something may have changed in that time," Tommy said, putting a bright piece of tape near where they found the hole and on doorways along the way.

Joel followed behind closely, thinking about the young girl that was in the hospital. She was pissed at him, and that's why she had fallen and gotten hurt. She wouldn't have been out there if he hadn't kept that secret from her. On the other hand, she might've died had he told her.

"Hey, don't think too much on everything. You and Ellie will get things figured out, it's just gonna take some time," Tommy told him, turning back a bit to face his brother. "Things are gonna be fine."

* * *

Her eyes shot open, and her hand immediately went to her head. It was pretty obvious to her she had a headache.

"How're you feeling, Ellie?" the blonde woman asked from beside her. She was smiling a little bit, and Ellie guessed she seemed nice enough.

"I have a headache," she stated quietly, covering her eyes with her arms. "And I feel kind of nauseous."

"That'll happen after an accident like yours. Long term memory loss is kind of uncommon in this case, but I guess it's not unheard of according to the doctor. You've got a concussion, and a pretty nasty one at that."

"Great. Just great. I don't know where I am-" Ellie sighed, starting to list off her worries.

"You're in a place called Jackson County. It's in Wyoming, if you remember where that might be."

"Wyoming?! Last I remember, I was in Boston!" she shouted, trying to sit up but falling back onto the pillow when a sharp pain ran through her head.

"Calm down, okay? I'm waiting for Joel to show up before I start trying to explain everything to you. He knows more about this whole situation than I do, and he's the one that came here with you. He's a good man," she explained to the auburn haired teen.

"So what's your name? You seem like you know me?" she hadn't meant the last part as a question, but it'd ended up coming out that way. She looked over expectantly at the woman.

"My name is Maria. My husband's name is Tommy. He's with Joel right now checking out the actual hospital, but I'm pretty sure they're on their way back."

Ellie nodded a little and stared at the ceiling. She really wasn't sure what to do at this point. She wasn't sure if she could trust Maria, Tommy, or this Joel guy. Not to mention she was far away from home and wherever Marlene or Riley were. So she was all by herself, and that fact scared her.

"Ellie, how're you doing?" a man, presumably the doctor, came up and asked. He was wearing a white lab coat that reached all the way down to his knees, and he wore a stethoscope around his neck like a necklace and a few other tools sat in his breast pocket.

"I'm alright. I've got a headache and am a little sick to my stomach, though," she told him, trying to squint up at him. Light was leaking in through the window above her bed right on him. The light hurt her eyes.

"Looks more like a migraine to me. From what you just told me, and the knowledge of the incident that brought you here, you probably have a semi-severe concussion. Do you have any outside pain? Like on the back of your head, perhaps?" As he talked, he started to somewhat look her over, checking that her eyes were dilating correctly and things like that.

Ellie reached behind her to feel the back of her head and got a slight pain when she gingerly touched the base of her skull and pointed the doctor towards it.

"It doesn't look like there are any lacerations, but I still want you to be careful. Passing out from a concussion is somewhat normal, but it hopefully won't happen again. If it does, I'll let Joel know to bring you back in. I'd love to keep you here overnight just to make sure that you're one hundred percent, but we have more pressing cases that need in here. The limited space is really starting to become a problem."

Ellie nodded and turned toward the door as a man with dark brown hair flecked all over with gray and another man with dirty blonde almost brown hair walked in. The latter of the two looked younger, but still in his forties.

Maria rushed over to them and stopped the older man from coming over towards Ellie, which was fine with her. He looked hardened yet broken, if that was even possible. His face had been lit up and animated when he'd seen her but fell the more time he spent over there with Maria. The teen felt a little bad for him.

Looking at the man, a memory started to come back. An argument. Fighting. But what happened before that?

"_**You killed Marlene."**_

_**She pushes the door open and glares at the older man that had walked into the hospital. "Don't bother. I heard everything."**_

_**Running. Shouts. A river.**_

The memory continued to play in broken pieces. She didn't understand. The man, he'd killed Marlene? Another memory began to play of a mall. Riley. Joking around, goofing off, talking, and arguing. More arguing. What'd happened between them? Another piece swam in front of her vision. This time it was Riley's sad face as she pointed to the bite mark on Ellie's arm then showed her palm. A bite mark nestled between her thumb and pointer finger.

Ellie sat shocked, gripping the sides of the bed as the onslaught of memories ceased. Tears stung in her eyes that she tried as hard as she could to keep away. She slowly and gingerly pulled up the sleeve of her right arm and took in the site of the bite. If she'd been bitten, why hadn't she changed? If she really was in Wyoming with amnesia, then how is she still sane?

"Ellie?" the older man came up slowly and asked. He crouched down and tried to look up at her. She turned her face away so he wouldn't see the tears. "I know things are rough for you right now, but I'm here. We've taken care of each other for this long and, even though you might not remember, we're a family; you and I."

She nodded. Everything was just too much to process right now, and she just wanted to sleep. The tiredness had hit her all of a sudden, and she trusted Maria at least enough to know that she would go with this man. Joel, she thought Maria had called him. "You're Joel, right? Maria told me... I'm tired."

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, but she could still see the pain in his eyes out of the corner of her own. "C'mon, baby girl. I'll show you the way to the house."

* * *

_**A/N: Time seemed to get away from me, and I totally didn't realize how long it had been since I posted the first chapter. Whoops. I'm trying to get back into writing on another project of mine, so I apologize for the wait. I updated the first chapter so that it had line breaks as well. =) Thanks for the reviews, favorites, and alerts on this story!**_

_**Read and review!**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	3. Exploring Jackson

_**Exploring Jackson**_

Ellie curled into her blankets. She didn't want to get up and face the facts. Life wasn't how she remembered it, and that was something that scared her. How could someone forget months of their life? How had _she_ forgotten months of her life? She pulled herself out of bed and rolled up her sleeve, looking at the bite mark that lay there.

"I bet you've got a ton of questions," a voice said from the doorway.

Looking up, she realized it was Joel, leaning against the door frame. She nodded. "How did we get here? Where's Marlene? Am I Infected? What are you to me?" she started. She didn't want to ask him about the flash of a memory she'd gotten, because she didn't have the whole picture yet. For now, she'd just be wary of Joel.

"Well, Marlene needed someone to take you to the capitol building from the Boston quarantine zone. We were supposed to drop you off with some other Fireflies, but they were dead when we got there. So we came out this way to Jackson to find out where to take you. A lot of intermittent stuff, and we got you to the Fireflies. There was nothin' there, so I brought you back here for us to live. You're immune to the infection. You've had that bite on your arm the whole time I've known you and breathed in enough spores to kill hundreds. So no worries. You're not gonna die," he said, stepping into the room and sitting next to her. He kept a little bit of distance between them and wouldn't look her in the eye. She noticed that he kept messing with the watch on his wrist as well.

"So is that all we are? Travel partners?" she asked, looking innocently up at him. She wished that she could remember. He couldn't just be a travel partner, though. He'd looked too excited the day before that she was alright for that to be the case.

"No, that's not all we are. We're close. I've saved your life, and you've saved mine. We've had each other's backs for at least half of this journey after I allowed you the use of a gun. Neither of us would be alive right now if we didn't have each other," he said, meeting her eyes then averting his gaze back to the watch.

"So... We owe each other our lives?" she asked, It hadn't been lost on her that the day before he'd called her baby girl. That must mean something, right?

All he did though was nod. "Somethin' like that. Now, you hungry? I can fry us up some eggs."

Before she got a word out of her mouth, Joel was gone and she was left in the room alone. She stood up and stretched, rolling the joints that were stiff from the lack of use over the past few days. She walked out of her room and down the hall, through the living room, and into the kitchen to sit at the table.

"So, we've got a lot to do today. The doctor wants to check you out again, make sure that everything's goin' smoothly, then we need to stop by Tommy's. After that, I wanna take you to the stables. I know you like horses, and maybe you'll remember something." Joel continued talking as he made them breakfast, and she listened as best as she could while her mind replayed the few memories over and over.

"Hey, Joel?" she asked, continuing once he stopped talking. "Did I ever talk about Riley before? Do you know where she is? What happened to her?" She pressed. She knew that it was probably a long shot, but she had to know. She remembered little bits and pieces, but nothing that really told her if Riley was dead or alive.

"Ellie, I'm really sorry. She's gone. You'll remember how in time, and I don't wanna push it. I don't know much about it, because you only ever brought it up a few times, anyway," he replied, bringing over two plates of food. "Bacon and eggs."

Ellie's favorite part out of the whole day came when they went to the stables. She didn't get to hear what Joel and Tommy talked about, so that was boring just like at the doctor's. It was noisy over there, though. They'd started moving things back into the actual building that they used as the hospital. So there were tons of people going in and out. It'd taken some time for them to actually get to talk to the doctor because of it. He was helping just like everyone else, because he wanted everything in specific places.

"Do you think they'd let me ride?" Ellie asked excitedly, bouncing as she walked. She ignored Joel's chuckle.

"They might. I dunno if it'd be such a good idea what with that concussion and all, but we'll see," Joel told her, falling behind as she bound for the stables.

"My head doesn't even hurt anymore, and the doctor said I'd be okay after that, right?" Okay, so she wasn't exactly telling the _whole_ truth, but she'd lie if it meant she got to do something fun today. She needed that. Maybe it'd help her memories return. It wasn't meant to be, though, she found out soon after.

Just before getting to the stable, Tommy ran up to Joel and started having a heated discussion with him. Ellie was too far away to pick up on the whole conversation since they were whispering, so she wandered back towards the men.

"-is Infected! He hasn't left the town at all, so how else do you reckon it happened?! She bit his arm yesterday, and we had to shoot him 'cause he turned! You can't just tell me that's coincidental, Joel!"

"So what do you suppose we do?! Huh?! Kill 'er like she's one of those _things_?!"

If looks could kill, Tommy would be dead where he stood. Ellie knew they were talking about her, but Joel had just said this morning that she was immune. Had he lied? If he'd lied though, wouldn't she have turned by now? It was a lot for her to process. Obviously Tommy was extremely upset, though. Maybe he was just shoving the blame off on her, because it was easier than to actually admit that maybe an Infected _had_ gotten into the city?

"I don't know, Joel! All I know is that she's able to infect people, and she's in danger here. I'm trying to keep it from spreading around that she might've infected that man, but already quite a few people know."

As they continued arguing, Ellie took off. She didn't want to hear anymore of it. She slowed to a walk once she was a decent distance away from the two men and started to look around. Some buildings looked old and dilapidated, covered with vines of ivy and various other greens. She assumed this was the worst part of town.

As she kept walking, she came into the part of town where her and Joel lived. All these buildings were cleaner, because the people of Jackson had tidied them up. She had heard Maria talking the other day about having another community work day. She assumed that's what got these buildings looking clean in the first place.

Ellie kicked a rock that was in front of her. Today was supposed to be a good day. A day where she could relax while trying to remember her past. She'd been looking forward to going riding, but maybe she still could later on. She expected Joel would find her at some point and take her back home or something.

It didn't take long for her to start getting a little irritated as she kicked the rock, deep in thought. Maybe Tommy was just trying to get her out of town. Joel had told her she was immune. That meant she couldn't infect people. With that being said, there's no way she could've infected the man she'd bitten. Simple logic, right?

"Ellie, there you are," someone said behind her.

She spun around to come face-to-face with Tommy. "I didn't infect that guy."

Tommy frowned a little but quickly covered it with a small smile. "C'mon, Ellie. Joel's looking for you."

Ellie backed away as he went to grab her shoulder to start walking with her. She shook her head. He started to say something, but she took off before he could even start. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Joel. She just didn't trust Tommy to actually take her there. She didn't trust easily, and no one around Jackson had really earned it yet.

* * *

Joel and Ellie both wandered the streets of Jackson, lost in thought. All he could think about was helping her. He'd never seen her infect someone. Could it be due to the amnesia? Was that affecting her brains ability to fight off the CBI? Thoughts swam through his head, but he tried to brush them aside. He needed a plan and goals. But first, he needed to find Ellie.

He wandered farther outside the city, the dilapidated and ivy covered buildings coming slowly. Soon, they surrounded him. Maria was always talking about having another work day to start clearing these buildings to be used. The ones they had access to were starting to get full. It seemed at times like more and more people were coming to join Jackson. _How_ they knew about the settlement was a mystery to him.

He turned a corner and spotted Ellie's copper colored hair moving away from him. He considered calling after the girl, but he didn't want her to take off. He knew that as things went, he was getting pretty old. Before deciding on how to go about that, Ellie turned and spotted him.

* * *

_**A/N: Sorry for the short-ish chapter, you guys. I've been dealing with some friend stuff, so I ended up behind on schedule. Then when I tried to post this earlier, I just kept getting an error message. Blah.**_

_**Thank you for the reviews, favorites, and alerts. ^^**_

_**Anyway, I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Read and review!**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	4. Rage

_**Rage**_

Ellie stretched and let loose a short yawn before clambering out of her bed and changing into her clothes. It'd been a few days since Joel had found her. For some reason, despite that little snippet of her memory, she trusted Joel. It was Tommy she was wary of. She'd let Joel come to her, but she didn't remember much else of the conversation besides some shouting. They'd make it back to the house in one piece though.

She fixed and tightened her ponytail, then loped off down the stairs. It wasn't long before she heard Joel and Tommy arguing for the umpteenth time.

Sidling into the kitchen, ignoring the older men having the _same_ argument they had the day before, she got a piece of bread and a can of peaches before grabbing a bowl and sitting down.

Pouring the peaches into said bowl, she listened to Joel and Tommy.

"She told me she'd bitten someone before, and nothing happened to him. Granted the guy was crazy to begin with, but I doubt she can infect people. She's _immune_, Tommy," Joel said, the agitation seeping into his every word.

"How do you know for certain, Joel? Think about it. Maybe instead of being immune, she's just not affected by it. Her bite infected another guy," Tommy drawled with an agitated sigh. He sounded tired.

"There's one way to find out. They still got the body?" Joel asked, a scraping sound indicating that he'd stood up roughly from his seat. "Then let's go find out if it really was my baby girl that infected him."

Ellie moved a little so that she could peer into the other room and was surprised to see Joel coming her way.

"I want you to stay here while I go check on something with Tommy. We'll definitely be back by lunch. Maria brought some books over that you might like to read. Keep yourself occupied till I get back, okay?"

Ellie nodded and started eating her peaches again. Didn't he trust her?

-

Joel walked with Tommy in silence, a plethora of thoughts fights for his attention. What is Ellie's immunity was going along with her memory? She had taken a pretty good hit to the head when she'd been rammed into that rock at the river. What would they do? Would Tommy make them leave? He knew one thing for certain. He wasn't leaving Ellie alone. He'd grown quite attached to the spunky, auburn haired teen.

"It's nothin' against either of you, Joel. I've just got a family and a town to think about. As far as I know, Jackson is one-of-a-kind. I wanna build a community here. A life where people don't have to wonder if this night or this meal will be their last. A safe haven from the world outside our walls. If Ellie can pass on the infection, I don't know what we'll do. I don't want to kick you both outta town, but I might have to," Tommy said, his eyes downcast.

"I understand, Tommy," Joel said gruffly, ending the conversation. He wasn't in the mood. Ellie had gotten pissed off when he'd found her, so much so that they'd argued all the way home and hadn't spoken to each other the rest of the evening. The next day, she was her normal self and had been ever since.

Stopping himself from worrying about her recent behavior, he let his mind wonder to Isaac. The guy that had ended up infected. He'd been told that Isaac was one of those fellows that thought he was invincible. Sneaking out of town to mess with Infected was apparently a favorite pass time of the young man. Obviously, Tommy was none the wiser about that little detail. If he was, maybe he wouldn't have been so quick to accuse Ellie.

Nearing the hospital, Joel saw a few people he'd always spotted around town with Isaac. Two burly men, one blond the other with ebony hair, and a young woman with brunette tresses. He knew that Tommy checked a body for bite marks then released it for burial to family, friends, or loved ones. Today must be when Isaac would be released. The three pounced on Tommy as he neared, but Joel ignored them and waited inside the doors for Tommy.

Once they were both inside, Tommy brought them to the hospital's morgue. He had the person in charge of the area pull Isaac's body out. The two were left alone while the guy in charge stepped into the hall.

"Maria said that he had grabbed onto Ellie to try and subdue her, because she ran off. I guess she got freaked out and bit him due to lack of any other kind of weapon. Bit him on the arm, I think. So that's where we'll start," Tommy told him, rolling up the guy's sleeves.

Silence filled the room as both men started looking over every inch of the man's body in the places it was likely to get bitten in. He had two.

"Compare 'em," Joel said, flipping the guy over on his left side and putting his arm nearer his shoulder so both were in Tommy line of sight.

"The one on his shoulder looks worse, but the one there on his arm looks more progressed than Ellie's bite. So I dunno. I'm not sure what caused him to turn, but we need to keep her from biting people. If she infected him, she could do it again."

Joel sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew that he could sit down with Ellie and talk to her, but he wasn't sure how she'd take the news that Tommy thought she could infect people, and he was going along with it. He felt a headache coming on...

"C'mon. Let's get back to town," Tommy said, getting Isaac ready for the waiting group outside.

Joel headed outside and waited a short way away till he saw his younger brother come out. _He's a good leader here_. Joel thought to himself.

-

Ellie felt her anger and confusion bubbling over, and she'd tried everything to stop it. Even pacing, cursing, and punching things wasn't helping at all. Focusing on a volume of Savage Starlight hadn't helped, much to her dismay. It was as if there was something prodding and poking her, waiting in the sidelines for her fury to become unbearable.

She was starting to calm down when the door creaked open and Joel and Tommy stepped in.

"Ellie, somethin' wrong?" Joel asked gently, worrying playing across his face.

Ellie didn't hear his question, because her attention was focused solely on Tommy. He believed something impossible. He wanted to throw them out. It wasn't about anything with her at all. He just wanted them out, because he wouldn't have to deal with his older brother anymore. That had to be it. That had to be why he was making excuses and fabricating things. There was no other rational explanation.

She kept her eyes on Tommy, ignoring everything Joel was saying. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as her vision blurred. She could feel herself becoming stronger as the monster inside of her reared its ugly head. It was futile to fight. Now that it had seen its target, it wasn't going to back down and let him get away with everything he was trying to do to them. Her muscles strengthened as the adrenaline tore through them. Her hearing had improved considerably as she could hear people chatting away outside. It was then that she lunged for Tommy, letting loose a feral scream. He had to go. Seconds later, the world went black.

_**A/N:**__** Shorter than what I'd like it to be, but I'm hoping it'll start picking up here within the next few chapters. Next time we'll see what's up with Ellie. Any kind of review is welcome whether it be criticism, compliments, etc. I'd love to hear you guys' ideas and thoughts on each chapter. Thanks for reading!**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	5. Problems and Rumors

_**Problems and Rumors**_

Ellie groggily opened her eyes, trying to lift her arms to shield her eyes from the bright light and finding she could only lift them about an inch from where they had rested previously. _What the fuck?_ she thought, pulling her arms up harder.

"Ellie," someone stated from behind her. The voice sounded strained but familiar. "Someone is going to be in there to talk to you soon. Try to remain calm."

"Fuck you. Remain calm? I'm bound to a damn bed for no reason!" she shouted, struggling to get free.

"Baby girl, try to calm down. I'm right here," she heard Joel say from where the other voice came from. "Just gimme a minute, and I'll explain everything to you."

Ellie slightly lifted her head to get a good look in front of her and partially to her sides. She was surrounded on all sides by sheets hung to conceal her view. Or maybe they were meant to conceal her _from_ view. She wasn't really sure, and it wasn't really important to her at the moment. There wasn't anything else in her view except for her feet, which were also held down. She wasn't sure, but it looked like thick leather straps.

Joel walked into her line of sight after a slight movement of the sheets. "Ellie, trust me. I told 'em this was over the top, but they wanted to be sure you were back to normal."

"Back to normal? What do you mean? What's going on?" Ellie struggled against the leather bindings again, hoping that she could get herself free.

Joel undid her fastenings and helped her sit up before taking a seat beside her. "Listen, Ellie. Things have kinda taken a turn for the worse. Originally we thought it was just amnesia that you had, but after yesterday the doc ain't so sure."

"I don't remember much... I remember all of that morning. After you and Tommy left, I just kept getting angrier and angrier. No matter what I did, I couldn't calm down. Then you guys came back, and I lost it. I-I was having trouble seeing, and I was so *mad*. I'm still mad. It's different than before, though. I'm sorry, Joel..." she said, burying her head into his shoulder.

"I'll get somethin' figured out, Ellie. I promise you that we'll get you better," he told her, kissing the top of her head and hugging her close. It reminded him of the nights that he'd had to stay up with Sarah when she'd have nightmares or was upset over something that happened during the day. It reminded him that, as a father, these were the moments he lived for.

"So what's wrong with me, Joel…?" she asked, her voice quiet and barely audible. She was afraid of the answer. It was obviously something bad, or she wouldn't have been held down to a bed.

"The doctor thinks that when you hit your head and got amnesia, it also messed up your immunity. We're not sure how long you'll be able to fight it off before you'll turn…. We're not sure _if_ you'll turn at all. This is uncharted territory for all of us. No one's sure what to make of it. Everyone else is scared. You nearly bit Tommy the other day, and the way you screamed was just like an Infected. The doctor says this could be part of the reason you haven't really gotten any of your memories back as well. The infection, instead of obliterating all your memories, is just locking the ones you lost away."

Ellie shook her head in disbelief. This was all too much. Her memories had planted the doubt about Joel in her mind, and everything that had happened thus far just seemed to keep watering them until they grew into a monster that she wasn't sure how much longer she could control….

* * *

Joel wandered aimlessly through the town as Ellie slept in her bed at home. He couldn't lose her. Ellie was all he had left. Tommy and him were less like brothers and more like begrudging allies.

"Psst," a barely audible whisper sounded from the shadows behind the building he was coming up on. The sun was rising still, but he could make out the vague shadow of what looked to be a fifteen year old boy. He motioned for Joel to come over.

He kept walking. He didn't have time to be messing around with some kid that decided to mess with him.

It wasn't long before the kid was standing in front of him. He couldn't clearly see the boy's face as it was covered by a makeshift mask with a red line across the middle. He wore a black coat that seemed to resemble a trench coat in cut. He rose up to about Joel's chin.

"What do you want?" Joel asked, not hiding the venom in his tone. He wasn't in the mood to deal with this kid.

"You need a cure for the Infection. Rumor has it that there's a woman that lives In a small town in Montana. About a four day long journey from here on foot. Two days on horseback if you're running them all day. She's created a cure, but the person can't have turned into a Runner yet. Though there've been a couple of lucky cases. The town's called Whitehall," the boy said, keeping his gaze steady, not faltering under Joel's scowl.

"And how do I know you're tellin' me the truth? How do I know you're not leading me out there to get me killed by your parents or somethin'?" His brow furrowed. He wasn't sure whether to believe this kid. It was too good to be true. A cure just as soon as he needed one?

"It's all you've got. I've seen people in the same place as your daughter. Give it two weeks, and she'll be a full-fledged Runner. Then you'll believe me, but it'll be too late. The lady's name is Cecilia," the kid shrugged and walked off. "It's your choice."

Joel watched as he disappeared then headed back to the house.

* * *

Ellie laid on her bed, staring at the mark from the Infected on her arm. It didn't look any different to her than the first day she woke up. The infection was obviously confusing. No one knew how to stop it and, if the doctor was right, she was gonna turn. She wasn't gonna be herself anymore.

She cleared her head of those thoughts for the time being and rolled over to look out the window. She'd taken to watching the clouds out her window ever since she'd been brought back. She hated the thought of not being able to remember everything. If she turned, she'd never learn what happened to cause Riley's death. She'd never remember her and Joel's journey together. Everyone that she talked to about the old her told her that the two had been like father and daughter. She wanted desperately to remember that, never having had a father growing up.

The front door creaking open drew her from her thoughts. It had to be Joel coming back. Maybe he had a plan. Maybe, just maybe, he had something to help them.

When she got to the bottom of the stairs, Ellie was greeted to Joel packing food and supplies into his backpack. He was putting a few things into hers as well, and he didn't look up from his feverent packing to see her.

"Joel... What're you doing?" she asked, getting closer and seeing a dirty old road map.

"Findin' you a cure. We don't have long, Ellie. You're already starting to turn into a Runner, and I heard of someone up in Montana that might be able to help you. So, we're leaving. I've got Tommy gettin' us a horse ready, so we can leave as soon as we're packed," he told her rather quickly, never stopping from the task he'd set himself to.

Ellie stood silently, watching him for a second. "Joel, what am I to you?"

"I told you before-" he said stopping momentarily to speak before being interrupted.

"No. Don't tell me that we're just close traveling partners, because we both know that's bullshit. Sure you'd help a friend out like this, but you wouldn't be as frantic. It's like your life depends on me surviving or something..."

Joel sighed and closed both their packs, picking his up. "Let's go."

"So you're just gonna ignore my question?! I just want to know _something_ about who I am right now! You told me Riley's dead, so why not tell me this?!"

"Ellie, can't we-?" Joel started to say, turning to face the teen.

"No! Just tell me the goddamn truth! What am I to you?!"

Joel stood there, conflicted. On one hand, he knew that if he didn't tell her that she'd just lose it again. Then there'd be no way he could get her to that woman. On the other, he had no idea what telling her about her forgotten memories would do. Especially since the CBI was blocking them. He sighed and relented. It couldn't do that much harm. "I can't say much about you, but I've seen it as family. You're my daughter, and I'm your father. That's all there is to it."

Ellie frowned but nodded. "I remembered something the day I woke up, but I haven't remembered anything since…. Joel, if you're like a father to me, then why'd you kill Marlene? Did you kill Riley, too?"

"Will you come with me? We'll talk on the way, alright?' Joel asked, holding her pack out to her.

Ellie shook her head, sighed, and took her pack from him. She couldn't trust him, but he was also her only chance at surviving. Living meant getting her memories back, so she chose the lesser of two evils.

* * *

_**A/N: Okay, so two things. One, I don't remember how I said I was going to update, but it's going to be once a week for now. I know I said that at least, but by once a week I mean I'll post sometime next week again. Doesn't mean it'll be a week from now, but it could be more or less than a week. Two, I have thirteen people following this and nine reviews. I really appreciate the follows and all the people that review, and I'd love to hear from all of you. It really motivates me to write and to do my absolute best with these chapters. I've kind of been a bit bleh lately, so any and all types of reviews help!**_

_**Oh, and I'm kind of really excited about this chapter, because I actually ended up doing one less than a week from the last one. I don't have anything done for the next one, though. So I'm predicting that'll probably be up later next week. We'll see, though.**_

_**I'd love to hear you guys' thoughts, ideas, and/or criticism. So, read and review! ^^**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	6. Hidden in Waiting

_**Hidden in Waiting**_

A boy with rich, light chocolate colored hair and blue eyes picked his way through a small forest before coming up on the town he called home. It was a small community. Maybe twenty or so people total, but they were content.

"Hey, Reese. Could you have your mother stop by later? Ricky's gone and done it again," a family friend, Sadie, asked him as he strolled by.

Reese got closer and rested his arms and chin on the makeshift fence surrounding the woman's single level home. "You need to tell him he's gotta stop messing around with Clickers. Gonna get himself killed one of these days, and my mom can't just keep fixing him up forever. It's not plausible."

Sadie shrugged. "If I've told him once, I've told him a thousand times. It goes in one ear and out the other, though. Maybe your mom can knock some sense into him."

Reese chuckled and nodded as the wind picked up and blew his shaggy hair everywhere. "Send him over, and Mom'll have him straightened out and begging to come home within a couple of hours."

The two chatted for a few more minutes before the boy headed to his house. He was by no means buff, but he wasn't lanky either. He didn't wrestle with the other boys his age, because he was always out and about looking for a better place for their group to live. He needed to be in top condition to deal with the world's now harsh environment.

As he walked in the front door of the house he and his mother shared she turned and smiled at him. "Any news, Reese?"

"Ricky. Again," Reese scoffed, grabbing a can of peaches from the cabinet and opening it with a knife he had.

His mother sighed and shook her head. She wasn't elderly, but she was getting there. She had strands of gray hair mixed in with her naturally blonde hair. She had laugh lines on her face and some wrinkles, but she could still fight with the best of them. She was in her late forties. "When will that boy learn? I'm not a fountain of this stuff, and it can be extremely tedious to make. I'll need some more supplies if I'm gonna make more for Ricky."

"Yeeeeah... About that... You'll probably have to make enough for two..." he said, waiting for the onslaught. He wasn't supposed to tell people about her cures.

"What did you do? If you went and got yourself bit, Reese Carson Andrews so help me," she said, the anger and venom rising in her voice.

"No, no, Mom. That's not it. See, you remember that settlement in Wyoming that I told you about? Well there was this girl there, and-" he cringed as his mother smacked the counter.

"Reese! Damnit, you're not supposed to be telling people! Especially not for some schoolboy crush!" she shouted, people outside turning their heads having, heard the shouting.

"It's not, Mom! I've heard about her! She might be the way to make a vaccine from your cure! She's immune! She doesn't hide it in town, because outsiders don't get in easily! They all know! I've been there over months! She has a bite on her forearm, Mom! She never turned!"

She was silent for a moment before heading for her room and shutting herself inside.

Reese sighed and finished his peaches then grabbed his pack and headed out to the forest. He needed to get things together, because they'd be getting there in a few days. He knew his mother meant well and just wanted to protect their small settlement, but there were always exceptions to rules.

* * *

Joel silently cursed to himself as he shifted Ellie on his back. She'd started feeling ill earlier, so he'd offered a piggyback ride. He greatly regretted it. He bent over a bit and let go of her legs and laid a blanket out then maneuvered her onto it.

Joel stretched out, reaching upward to try and release some of the tension in his back. He started getting settled and was about to wake Ellie when he heard a twig snap and spun around, gun raised.

He couldn't see anyone, but he could hear someone quietly running through the trees. He nudged Ellie awake and quickly told her what happened, handing her a gun.

She took it and crouched down, nodding to Joel. He took that as a sign that she was ready, and he took off into the trees.

He quickly looked over his shoulder, making sure that Ellie was still within his sight. Ahead of him, he could make out a dotting of houses. They'd obviously inadvertently camped near a Hunter settlement. It wasn't long before he came across broken twigs and torn leaves, indicating someone had come through the area before him.

He walked up towards one of the obviously dilapidated houses but stopped once he heard voices.

"-you really think he'll get 'em? Damn tourists always fightin' back," a gruff, male voice spat.

"I doubt it. No such luck lately. Plus, the girl looked sick. Wouldn't do us much good to take her shit cuz we don't got the medicine to help anybody," another younger male voice said.

Joel scanned the surrounding area for anyone else, but it was just the two near him, which unsettled him. Hunters didn't travel in small groups of three nor did they inhabit a town with that small of a number.

He slowly inched forward, breathing in and out soundlessly, a skill he'd worked hard to master after the outbreak. He'd always been one to breathe loudly and deep under pressure. The two faced away from him for the time being, so he quickened his steps, readying himself to snap necks when he himself was grabbed from behind and roughly put into a headlock. The two in front of him turned around, quickly wiping shocked looks of their faces.

Joel grabbed the arms of whoever was behind him, attempting to get free. That's when he heard the gunshot in the direction of where Ellie was. He doubled his efforts, snapping his head backwards and hitting his captor square in the nose, forcing him to let go.

The younger one of the two in front of him had disappeared, and the older one held a gun pointed directly at Joel. He looked to his right, seeing the guy that'd been behind him coming to his side.

"Turn around and move, fucker," the one with the gun said, nodding his head to the right.

Joel slowly turned as the other guy moved, drinking in his surroundings. He'd need to know the town if he was going to escape.

It was then that the man holding the gun grunted in pain, dropping his weapon and holding his side where an arrow now protruded from.

The man that was now in front of him went over to the other man, grabbing the gun up and pointing it at Joel. "Whoever's out there, I'll shoot him if you don't show yourself!"

There was a rustling in the bushes to the man's back and as he turned around to quickly look, Joel used it against him. He grabbed onto the gun that the man was holding and ripped it from his hands, turning it so that it was now pointed at the two in front of him.

The one that had originally been behind him, a balding older man with muscles twice the size of Joel's, sneered. "You think we're scared of you and your friend?" Before Joel could get a response out the man kicked him in the side, sending Joel into the wall next to him.

Joel ducked down as the man tried to charge at him again, lunging at his abdomen as he got close enough. Joel threw all of his weight at the guy and knocked him back making the larger man stumble. This time, because he was listening for it, he heard the slight twang of the bow's string. An arrow was shot into the man's arm.

He laughed again and punched Joel with his good arm then broke the shaft of the arrow and pulled the head out.

* * *

Ellie bit her lip as she watched the old guy punch Joel. She'd been too late to help him after shooting the third guy that had been stalking around in the woods. It amused her to think about, because the guy had run off like a frightened deer once she shot him in the leg. Though, now that she thought about it, it was more like she had grazed him.

She tried her hardest to suppress a cough as she notched another arrow in the bow. The more energy she used, the sicker she felt. They needed to end this fast, or she was going to end up passed out in the bushes while Joel was taken who knows where. She drew the string back and aimed for the guy that she'd already hit once. Maybe if she killed him, it wouldn't be as hard on Joel.

The thought of killing the man made her stomach turn, but she knew that it needed to be done. It was one less guy to fight as he already looked like he was recovering and getting ready to lunge at Joel as well. Her mind on auto-pilot, she shot the arrow towards the back of the guy's neck then shifted behind a tree, putting all of her weight on it. One hopefully down, big ugly to go.

She looked around her to make sure that there was no one else then peeked out to see that she had indeed killed the one that she'd hit early. Her victory was short lived, though, as she realized that his death had doubled the larger man's efforts against Joel. Panic set in as the man threw punch after punch at Joel, the latter of the two only being about to dodge about half of them before getting hit in the jaw.

Ellie shook her head, trying to clear it of all thoughts. She needed a plan, and quick. It looked the guy had a one-track mind in his rage, and that gave her an opening to sneak up behind him if she could get the right angle to be in his blind spot. She had her switchblade on her. Maybe jump on the guy's back? A quick stab of pain shot through her head, making her wince. She picked up a rock and weighed it in the her hand before throwing it at the side of building that Joel was pressed against.

"Looks like your little friend tried to sneak up on me, bastard," the large man spat. He kept a hold of Joel and moved so that his back was facing her. She only had a window of a few seconds. She pulled out her switchblade and charged at the guy as quickly as he legs would carry her. She was about halfway there before she stopped and coughed loudly, hunched over.

The guy turned around and faced her with a small smile on his face. "Little bitch, trying to trick me like that."

Ellie rolled out of the way as he charged at her and saw Joel grab the gun he'd previously dropped when the guy had smashed him up against the wall. He aimed and shot, but the man moved so it nicked him in the side.

He turned around to face Joel and grabbed the smaller man's neck, and Ellie took the opportunity to get up, rush him, and lunge onto his back. As quickly as she could manage, the stabbed her switchblade into his neck over and over again.

She looked as Joel got free due to the guy's grasp loosening. Before he fell face first in the dirt, Ellie let go and fell to the ground.

"There's still one more," Joel coughed out, leaning over to catch his breath.

Ellie panted and nodded, looking over in the direction of their camp. "You'll have to…" she coughed. "I can't. Need to catch my breath."

Joel nodded and left her there, coming back a few minutes later and nodded to her. "He's gone. We need to move. Are you any better? That was really brave, Ellie. Looks like I owe you my life yet again."

Ellie nodded as he extended a hand which she took and pulled herself up. That same pain shot through her head again, going from her temples all the way to the back. She leaned forward, leaning on Joel for support as her vision blurred.

"Ellie?" he asked, worry dripping from his tone.

She grunted as a memory came back to her in pieces.

_**Joel held underwater. Fighting. A struggle. Gunshot.**_

She'd shot a man. To save Joel? Was that before she found out about him killing Marlene? He said they travelled together, so it'd make sense. Once the pain in her head dissipated, she ended up throwing up at Joel's feet. She stumbled as she started to move, and she felt strong arms picking her up, holding her as if she was a little girl. She let herself fall asleep, knowing Joel would protect her.

* * *

_**A/N: It's late, but I have an excuse. Actually two. Fight scenes are difficult for me, and some end of the school year stuff. So yeah. We were busier than I thought we were going to be. I barely had time to sit down and write. But here it is! What'd you guys think?**_

_**Read and review!**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


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